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BROKEN MIND, BROKEN THOUGHTS, BROKEN PROJECTOR

It started, as many important and irreplaceable things do (I say those things counting on the alien civilization that digs up this blog post in a trillion years thinking of our little experiment fondly), as something of a lark. In a nutshell, Scott Beggs – Managing Editor of Film School Rejects, who lives in Germany – and I just wanted a really good reason to hang out and talk. And, “Hey, let’s Skype every now and then,” was a little too gay for the both of us.

One day Scott wrote and said, “Why couldn’t we do a podcast together?” And I thought, “I can’t really think of a good reason not to. Why can’t we?” I’d previously been a guest on Reject Radio, which Scott was bringing to a conclusion, and he wanted to do something a little different. I was looking for that little something extra to not only expand my presence in the world to Lex Luthor extremes, but also to keep my creative juices flowing week to week. A podcast seemed like a great way to foist my particular brand of lunacy upon the world. With Scott there to edit out all the stuff that might get me arrested.

So what is The Broken Projector?

You might regard the title of this piece as some sort of dark, brooding pretentiousness. You’d be right about the third one – sounds like a bad black box theater show in the bowels of the East Village. But allow me to disavow you of the dark/brooding part. Indeed. this is the way I think about myself – quite comically – as a thinker and a writer. Broken. Fractured. Scattered. In odd working order.

I’ve no interest in being conventional – though sometimes my interests happen to run along that path. I’ve no interest in being interested in just one thing, though I reserve the right to lock onto something I care about. I’ve no interest in the polished, the perfect or the organized, though in many ways, like many people, I often strive for some semblance of all.

And that’s what’s great about the Podcast – with a few core ideas, we wanted this podcast to be whatever the fuck we wanted it to be. We wanted to be free to discuss anything we were interested in at the moment or anything that we’d been mulling over for ages. We wanted to blather on about movies and television and actors and directors and writers and writing and cinematography and marketing and festivals and, at the end of the day, what we love MOST about being in a theater. We wanted to discuss shit we were interested in in a way that YOU’D be interested in. We especially wanted to take things you would NEVER be interested in and interest you – and vice versa. And since we’ve both got our heads screwed on…slightly askew, well, what better metaphor than a malfunctioning moviebox?

It’s designed to be a podcast where we could have our cake and eat it too. We are going to be the first people ever to have cake and eat it, because it is criminally fucking stupid to have all this cake lying around that you can’t eat. What’s the point in getting cake if you’re going to let it get stale and molded? Are you a moron? EAT YOUR CAKE.

At the end of the day, it’s commiseration and dissention, essentially. We’d love for you to pick up your iPod or switch us on at work and be looking forward, week in and week out, to hearing something that you totally agree with or had no idea existed or hate with such fervency that you just HAVE to send us an email telling us what cocks we are. We want to be part of your weekly media landscape. but not because we’re the only film-centric podcast out there – we ain’t by a longshot. And not because we’re better at this than everyone else – we aren’t. Rather, it’s because we think we have a unique view on the world of entertainment and we think you’ll enjoy it. And maybe we’re shooting for the moon a little there, but we’ll take that chance.

For me personally, outside of the chance to vomit out my opinions on the world of film and television, I wanted to have a little corner of the world, much like this website, that could be used as a resource for burgeoning writers. There are a LOT of other screenwriting podcasts out there, and you should listen to any and all of them to find out what you dig. That in mind, The Broken Projector is not just the only podcast that has Internationally Known Screenwriter Dr. Geoff LaTulippe as a co-host, but it’s also the ONLY podcast you’re reading about right now. And if I’ve learned anything, it’s the power of the thing you’re currently doing.

The kicker – and this is what I get most excited about: we don’t want this to *just* be our podcast – we want it to be yours too. On the Official Page of the Broken Projector Podcast, in the top right corner amongst a bunch of social networking icons (we’re part of the Internet!), you’ll see a little question mark (which looks like this – ? – in case you’re a fucking idiot). That’s the “Ask Us Anything” button. Click it. And ask us anything. And we mean it. We want your thoughts, we want your questions, we want your rants, we want your feedback. We want your participation. We are the guys that will LET YOU EAT CAKE, for Christ’s sake! Patronize us!

So check us out when you get a chance. I can almost guarantee there will be something there for you. And if not, you should probably reexamine things. All the things.

I shall end this nonsense by asking you a favor. PLEASE go to our page on iTunes (here’s the link on the ‘Net if you don’t have access to the actual iTunes program at the moment), subscribe to the show, give it a listen, and then rate us. It will help. We will be happy. And at the end of the day, it’ll just mean more goddamn cake for everyone.

Discussion (10) ¬

Looking forward to watching your podcasts IF you link them here viewable on your blog. No reason not to link them on your blog. Having peolple go to iTunes is ridiculous.

Basic question after reading all of your posts. Why so many swear words and negative, condescending rants? You’re a better person than that, Geoff. You’re a screenwriter with actual film credits to your name. I think you can be a better person than the person you are now.

Hopefully your career will continue to blossom. I look forward to reading more of your posts.

1) Sending people to iTunes is the fastest way to grow our listenership. If that’s too far of a trek for you…I don’t know what to tell you. The podcast is linked from our Tumblr page, which I also linked to, and from the FSR website. But my advice is: don’t listen if it’s too much work.

2) What “negative, condescending rants” are you referring to? Also, if you’re afraid of swearing, this isn’t going to be a place you want to visit. Swearing is one of my favorite things, so…it’s unlikely I’ll be stopping that.

3) “I think you can be a better person than the person you are now.” That’s funny, because I’m not sure you can be a bigger douche than the douche you are now. But I’m excited for you to test my theory!

Get real Henry. It was clearly meant as an insult. BTW I think the rants are hilarious – swearing doesn’t make someone a worse person.

With regards to the Podcast, I enjoyed it Geoff. My only advice is maybe label the different segments more clearly up front, because I got a bit lost when transitioning between the segments, especially early on.

It was entertaining, I especially liked the fifteen seconds of talking over one another segment. Very silly and very funny.

Also your mic doesn’t sound as good as your co-host, but that’s minor. I enjoyed it.

Terrific point about labeling segments. That’s definitely something we’re going to look into. And I believe you listened to the first episode, and holy shit, you have some sharp ears – I did indeed have an inferior microphone. Luckily, the lovely chaps at FSR arranged a brand new, terribly spiffy one for me that I put into use for the second show. I think the difference is measurable. Of course it shit the bed during a three-way Skype session, but that’s on Skype and, I guess, part of the cost of doing.